Wire-line-carrier safety-lock.



T. H. WARD.-

WIRE LINE CARRIER SAFETY LOCK.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 29,1914.

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TME COLUMBIA ILANOGRAPII x:o., WAsHlNu'roN, D. C.

'THOMASy H. WARD', OF LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS, .ASSIGNOR TO THE LAMSON COMPANY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

WIRE-LINE-CARRIER SAFETY-LOCK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 18, 1916.

Application filed July 29, 1914. Serial No. 853,981.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, THOMAS H. WARD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Lowell, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in lVire- Line-Carrier Safety-Locks, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to wire-line carriers and the like, and more especially to an improved means in devices of this character for preventing the inadvertent despatch of the carrier fromk a station; and one of the principal objects of the present invention is to improveand simplify such means. This and other objects of my invention will be hereinafter referred to and the novel elements and combinations of means whereby said objects may be attained will be more especially pointed out in the claims appended hereto.

In the accompanying drawing which forms a part hereof and in which like reference characters designate like parts in the respective views, I have exemplified a preferred embodiment of my invention; but as I am aware of various changes and modifications which may be made herein without departing from the spirit of the invention, I desire to be limited only by the scope of said claims.

In the drawing: Figure 1 is a side elevation of a carrier of a type in common use, fitted with an improved means for locking the latch or catch, disposed atL a station, against inadvertent movement toward its open position when a receptacle, suspended from said carrier has been detached therefrom. Fig. 2 isa detail fragmentary section,

taken substantially in the plane of the pa-Y per and showing the respective operative and inoperative positions of said latch and its locking device.

The carrier proper need obviously be herein but briefiy discussed. It comprises the usual body or car 1 with its wheels 2 mounted upon a track wire 3 or the like. A safety andsteadying wire 4: may be disposed parallel to the track 3 in a vertical plane therewith; both of these wires being connected to a bracket 5 carried upon the lower extremity of a hanger 6. The car is provided with a locking mechanism 7, of

which a number of different types are' iny use 5-` this niech'anisn'i` servingl to" lockI al plate'k 8, in a known manner, to the car. This plate has connected thereto the bails 9 of the receptacle or basket 10.

A suitable basket elevating device is provided at each station at which it is desired to lower the basket; this device comprising the usual stirrup 11 which co-acts with the lock 7 and the plate 8 to lock the receptacle to the car and to thereafter unlock the same all in a known manner.

The bracket 5 is provided with a lug 5 through which extends a rod or bolt 12, the outer extremity of which carries a bracket 13, an upwardly extending arm of which engages the friction tube 14 which is com.

monly positioned upon the safety wire 4:. The bracket 13 is hence held against rotation but is free to move in parallelism with the wire 4, together of course with its rod 12. Bumper springs 15 and 16 may be mounted upon the rod 12 to normally position the bracket 13 definitely with respecty to the hanger 6.

Pivoted to the bracket 13, at 17, is a latch 18 provided with a suitable stop 18 which engages the hub of the bracket 13 and limits the upward movement of said latch. Pivotally connected at 19 to the lower side of this latch is a latch operating rod 20 which extends rearwardly in parallelism with the rod 12 and has at its rear extremity an L-shaped member 21 to which is attached the latch cord 22. The member 21 also carries a small roller 23 which rides in a slot 24 in a bracket 25 keyed or otherwise secured to the inner end of the rod 12.

The slot 24 extends rearwardly and downwardly so that when the handle 26 isfpulled down, the roller 23 will be cammed or forced tomove rearwardly as well as downwardly against the action of the light springs 23 to thereby correspondingly move the member 21 with its attached latch rod 20. rThis will of. course rotate the latch counter-clockwise, as viewed in Fig. 2, into its dotted line position, and when so disposed the roller 27 in the car frame or body 1 which this latch normally receives, when the carrier is at the station, is released.

The above described latch actuating mechanism possesses the additional advantage that it co-acts with the carrier when the latter is coming into the station, to move the latch into its operative or upper position, after the latter has beeny thrust downwardly by the roller 27 since the momentum of the incoming carrier will drive back the bracket 18, latch 18, rod 2O and roller 23 until the latter reaches the lower end of the slot 24, whereupon any further rearward movement of bracket 13, tends to place rod 20 under compression and thereby to force the latch up into its operative position even though' the latch spring 23 could not have otherwise had suflicient time to close the latch against the elort of the downward momentum of the latter imparted by its abrupt engagement withvthe roller 27. The lower end of the slot 24 hence affords a provision which co-acts with the cam-acting latch controlling device, to prevent a possible rebound of the carrier from the station.

I have not shown any means for propelling the carrier from the station when said latch has been so released other than to downwardly incline the track wires therefrom to permit gravity to propel the car toward the station at the other end of the line; since propelling devices of the character in question are well known and in common use.

When the receptacle has been detached from its car by pulling upwardly the stirrup 11 in the usual fashion, it sometimes happens that a clerk will inadvertently pull the latch releasing cord, which would, in the construction shown, allow the car to leave the station. This of course necessitates the return of the car to the station in order that the receptacle may be again attached thereto and involves a loss of time and perhaps other inconveniences. To provide against this contingency, I have pivoted at 28 within the frame 1 an auxiliary latch or lock 29, which is preferably a gravity pawl or latch, since gravity may always be'depended upon and a spring sometimes fails. This latch is slotted, as at 29', for the reception of a pin 30 which projects from vone of the inner walls of the car frame; so that the latch is only 'free to move downwardly to its dotted line position, shown in Fig. 2. The plate 8 has been indicated in Fig. 2 in two positions, the lower or dotted line position, designated 8', representing said plate when in the act of being raised or lowered with respect to the car. When the plate is so disposed the auxiliary latch 29 drops by gravity to its said dotted line position and the lip or hook 31 thereof is thereby swung in under the outer extremity of the latch 18. It then becomes impossible to relase the car from said latch by any inadvertent or even intentional pull upon the cord 22, until the plate 8 has again been raised substantially into engagement with the trame 1, which action rotates the auxiliary latch 29 clockwise until its lip 31 is clear of the extremity 'of the latch 18. When the plate 8 with its receptacle has thus been raised into substantially its uppermost position the lock mechanism 7 secures the receptacle to the car in the usual manner and the carrier is now ready for despatch. A downward pull upon the cord 22 will now release the carrier by 7o swinging the latch 18 to its dotted line position shown in Fig. 2, and the auxiliary latching device 29 upon the end of the car nearest the station shown in the drawing, will not again become operative until the carrier has been returned to said station and the receptacle has been again detached Vfrom the car. f

The location of the latch 18 at the station rather than on the carrier is greatly to be preferred, since the carrier is lightened and the number of movable elements mounted thereon is reduced substantially to a minimum. Further, the carrier is improved in appearance and the construction is simplied and cheapened. Then it was first determined to thus locate the latch, however, at first consideration, it seemed somewhat dilicult to provide proper and simple means for locking it against inadvertent opening movement when the receptacle is detached from the frame of the carrier. The auxiliary hooked latch solved the problem and I particularly direct attention to the simplicity of construction and reliability of 9 this element, which, furthermore, has the advantage of being substantially entirely concealed within the frame l.

Having thus described my invention what I claim is 1. iVire line carrier apparatus comprising a track having a station, a carrier to travel along said track toward and from said station and having a receptacle adapted to be attached to and detached from the frame 105 of said carrier, a latch pivotally mounted at and normally inseparable from said station, a latch engaginpart on said carrier, and a pawl mounted on said carrier for engagement with said latch to prevent actuation 110 of the latter to release said part when said receptacle is detached from said frame.

2. Wre line carrier apparatus comprising a track having a station, a carrier to travel along said track toward and from said sta- 115 tion and having a receptacle adapted to be attached to and detached from the frame of said carrier, a latch to hold said carrier at said station, said latch having a pawl engaging extension and a hooked pawl pivoted l2( to said Jframe to swing into locking relationship with said latch extension when said receptacle is detached from said frame. `said pawl being swung out of said relationship directly by a part of said receptacle when 125 the latter is rengaged with said frame.

3. Wire line carrier apparatus comprising a track having a station, a carrier to travel along said track toward and from said station and having a receptacle adapted to be 13G' attached to and detached from the frame of said carrier, a downwardly opening latch to hold said carrier at said station, said latch having an outer and normally free extremity thereof adapted to be hooked up and a hooked paWl pivoted to said frame to swing under and into locking relationship with said extremity of said latch When said receptacle is detached from said frame, said paWl being swung out of said relationship by a part of said receptacle when the latter is rengaged With said frame.

4. Wire line carrier apparatus comprising a track having a station, a carrier to travel along said Way toward and from said static/n and having a receptacle attachable to and detachable from the frame of said carrier, a latch pivotally mounted at said sta tion and normally inseparable therefrom, means on said carrier to engage said latch to hold the carrier at said station, and auX- iliary means on said carrier to lock said latch in engagement with said first men tioned means when said receptacle is detached from said carrier frame at said station.

5. Tire line carrier apparatus comprising a track having a station, a carrier to travel along said track toward and from said station and having a receptacle a part of which is adapted to be attached to and detached from the frame of said carrier, a latch pivotally attached to said station to hold said carrier thereat, camacting means to move said latch to its releasing position, and means actuated by said receptacle frame for preventing actuation of said cam-acting means except when said frame is in engagement With the frame of the carrier.

6. Wire line carrier apparatus compris ing a track having a station, a carrier to travel along said track toward and from said station and having a receptacle attachable to and detachable from the frame of said carrier, a latch pivotally mounted at said Station and normally inseparable therefrom, means on said carrier to engage said latch to hold the carrier at said station, and auxiliary means to lock said latch in engagement With said first mentioned means when said receptacle is detached from said carrier frame at said station.

7. Vire line carrier apparatus comprising a track having a station, a carrier to travel along said track toward and from said station and having a receptacle a part of Which is adapted to be attached to and detached from the frame of said carrier, a latch to hold said carrier at said station, cam-acting means to move said latch to its releasing position, and provisions to cause a part of said cam-acting means, to coact with said carrier While the latter is coming into said station, to force said latch into its operative position to prevent a rebound of said carrier from said station.

8. lVire line carrier apparatus comprising a track having a station, a carrier to travel along said track toward and from said station and having a receptacle a part of which is adapted to be attached to and detached from the frame of said carrier, a latch to hold said carrier at said station, means to move said latch to its releasing position, and provisions to cause a part of said means, to co-act with said carrier While the latter is coming into said station, to force said latch into its operative position to prevent a rebound of said carrier from said station.

In testimony whereof l have affixed my signature, in the presence of tivo Witnesses.

THMAS H. WARD.

Witnesses:

RoTHEsAY P. KIDDER, HARRY F. Davis.

topics of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing 'the Commissioner of Eatents.

Washington. D. C. 

